How To Eliminate The Post Holiday Guilt
As Summer slowly came to an end, with the majority of us having finally been able to escape the city even just for a little while, to see family and friends that have been long overdue. It's likely that we had taken a pause in our training as well as nutrition and enjoyed the summer in all of its glory, enjoying glasses of crisp wine and sumptuous menus.
Fast forward to September and the majority of us were back into reality, rummaging to regain a sense of balance and find our routine. We're reminiscing our short-lived holiday but we did whatever makes the most sense - we jump back into vigorous exercise doing classes every day, maybe even twice a day, cutting out our calories and favourite foods and go head first with the 110% mentality. Alongside everything else we're already doing such as figuring out a work routine, taking care of family, having sufficient sleep and trying to maintain a social life.
While building a routine and focusing on getting our nutrition in check is important, jumping headlong into a rigorous and unrealistic routine can be detrimental to both your physical and mental health in the long run.
We know it sounds like doing more will gain you the fastest results. But to put it into an analogy, think of it like eggs and heat. The higher the heat, the faster the eggs cook, right? While it makes the most sense, this is how you also burn them too.
So here are 3 easy ways to ease back to a realistic routine without going 110% and maintain it. (Note: You may have to keep an open mind though!)
Book into 1 class a day following our FST programming.
It's already designed so that you get to focus on all 3 modalities of fitness to have a balanced regime, and all you have to do is show up. If your body feels good and it works with your schedule, and only IF you want to do additional classes for enjoyment, then you absolutely can. We certainly don't suggest doing additional classes if you feel like you HAVE to do it to either "catch up" or because you're trying to make up for the summer. We promise that it won't be beneficial to your time and mental health!
You can work smarter, not harder. If you'd really like to push the intensity, focus on increasing your reps and increasing the weights you use. This will be the best way to progress and be more efficient with your time.
2. Focus on high quality and homemade foods.
We know the first thing we want to do is cut out alcohol for a month, do a cleanse, and cut out all of our calories. But if you're already doing vigorous exercise, trying to maintain a work and sleep schedule, and not in the best mental state, then having this approach will hinder your progress more than accelerate it. Plus, we've learned time and time again that cutting things out generally come back around twofold.
We suggest focusing on building your meals around the 3 macronutrients. Protein will be the first and biggest priority, and then carbs and fats in moderation. Cooking your food will always be the best option because you can control the quantity as well as the quality because you know there's going to be none of those extra sauces you get from eating out. We know that cooking at home may not be an option so use Hong Kong's many meal delivery service plans to help you and keep in convenient!
3. Track Your Movements and Feelings
We know tracking can feel like a burden, especially when we don't think there really is anything wrong with what we're currently doing. However, how can we know what is working for us and what isn't? We want to make sure that the effort that we're putting into our training, lifestyle and nutrition isn't for vain yet majority of the time we don't track. Is it really a time-consumer or perhaps we're scared at what we might find?
Tracking doesn't have to be a scary or time-consuming process. It's simply to understand what you're doing and eating on a daily basis. Some basic things you can ask yourself are: what did I eat today? Did I have any cravings? Did I give in to them or did I find an alternative? What is my mental state today (or this week)? How did my training feel? Did I sleep okay? How stressed am I? What's causing my stress and how can I overcome it today?
Whether you choose to physically write it down or take a few notes, it's always important to check in with yourself daily especially with how easy it is to get sucked in to Hong Kong's hustle and bustle. Checking in with yourself will allow you to see what might be wrong or what might be going great, and only from understanding where we're coming from can we really start to make a change.
And that's about it! Finding a balanced routine or at least starting to build one doesn't have to be complicated or articulate. You can simply just focus on one thing at a time and start to focus on what your main priorities are and build upon them. Once you are consistent with one goal, then you can move on to the next!
Remember, your struggles don't have to be your own. Our staff and coaches are always here to help you when you feel out of balance so don't be afraid to reach out.
If you've never been to Pherform before but feel like now is the time, our KICKSTART30 programme will help you get back into a routine and build healthy everyday habits.